Why Are You Crying?
Children's sermon
Object: A big rock.
* * *
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? It isn’t very long. (Let them respond.) Excellent!
When the sun came up, some of Jesus’ friends started walking down the road towards the garden. They were thinking about what had happened on Friday. Do you remember that, too? Let them respond.) That was when the leaders came and arrested Jesus and took him away because Jesus’ friend had told them where he was. Then the soldiers took Jesus and hurt him, made him walk through town so the people could laugh at him and throw things at him, and then took him to a hill where they killed him. Just before the sun went down some of Jesus’ friends got Jesus’ body and took it to a garden to bury it. But since they had to do it before the sun went down, all they could do was pour some perfumed oil on Jesus’ body and wrap it in a couple of pieces of cloth. When they left, they saw some soldiers roll a great big rock in front of the door so no one could get back in. (Drop the rock on the floor with a ‘thump’.) Then Jesus’ friends went home. How do you think they felt? (Let them respond.) They were sad, and afraid of what was going to happen next, and wondered how they could get back in the tomb to finish doing the things they needed to do to bury Jesus the way they were supposed to.
So this morning the friends were walking down the road wondering what they were going to do. They stopped to talk about how they could move the rock, but Mary kept walking and got to the garden first. And she was really surprised when she saw what she saw. Do you know what it was? Let them respond.) The big rock had been moved away from the door! (Roll the big rock out of the way.) She ran back to the others and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” They thought someone had come and hidden the body, didn’t they? (Let them respond.)
They all started running to the garden, but John got there first, and when he looked inside the tomb all he saw were the pieces of cloth they had wrapped around Jesus’ body. When the others got there, they went inside and saw the tomb was empty. They believed that Jesus had come back and went back home to figure out what to do next. But Mary stayed in the garden and was crying because she hadn’t looked inside yet. Finally, she peeked inside and saw two angels sitting on the stone where Jesus' body had been. I’ll bet she was surprised, don’t you? (Let them respond.) One of the angels said, “Woman, why are you crying?” Mary said she was sad because someone had taken Jesus' body, and she didn’t know where it was.
Then she turned around and saw a gardener standing there, so she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
The man said, “Mary.”
She recognized his voice. The man wasn’t a gardener at all. Do you know who he was? (Let them respond.) Mary shouted, “Teacher!” because she recognized that he was Jesus. And he was alive! They talked for a few minutes and then Mary ran back to tell the other friends what she had seen.
Now how do you think they felt? (Let them respond.) When they got up this morning, they felt sad and afraid because they believed everything was over. But now I’ll bet they felt a lot better, don’t you?(Let them respond.) They thought everything was over, but God surprised them. And sometimes, God surprises us, too!
Sometimes we get sad or scared and cry a bit because of things that happen to us, don’t we? (Let them respond.) And sometimes we see people who are really sad or scared and are crying a bit because of things that have happened to them, don’t we?(Let them respond.)
It is perfectly fine to cry when we feel sad or scared, but I hope our story will help us remember that those sad and scary times don’t mean that everything is over. Sometimes, God says, “Why are you crying!”, and shows us that instead of everything being over, something new has just begun.
I hope we can remember that God did not create us to cry and worry, but God created us to take care of each other. Let’s pray and ask God to remind us that Jesus loves every one of us and wants us to follow him and take care of each other the way God takes care of us.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us and for forgiving us when we forget that. And please help us remember that you love all of the people you have created and help us let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.
* * *
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? It isn’t very long. (Let them respond.) Excellent!
When the sun came up, some of Jesus’ friends started walking down the road towards the garden. They were thinking about what had happened on Friday. Do you remember that, too? Let them respond.) That was when the leaders came and arrested Jesus and took him away because Jesus’ friend had told them where he was. Then the soldiers took Jesus and hurt him, made him walk through town so the people could laugh at him and throw things at him, and then took him to a hill where they killed him. Just before the sun went down some of Jesus’ friends got Jesus’ body and took it to a garden to bury it. But since they had to do it before the sun went down, all they could do was pour some perfumed oil on Jesus’ body and wrap it in a couple of pieces of cloth. When they left, they saw some soldiers roll a great big rock in front of the door so no one could get back in. (Drop the rock on the floor with a ‘thump’.) Then Jesus’ friends went home. How do you think they felt? (Let them respond.) They were sad, and afraid of what was going to happen next, and wondered how they could get back in the tomb to finish doing the things they needed to do to bury Jesus the way they were supposed to.
So this morning the friends were walking down the road wondering what they were going to do. They stopped to talk about how they could move the rock, but Mary kept walking and got to the garden first. And she was really surprised when she saw what she saw. Do you know what it was? Let them respond.) The big rock had been moved away from the door! (Roll the big rock out of the way.) She ran back to the others and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” They thought someone had come and hidden the body, didn’t they? (Let them respond.)
They all started running to the garden, but John got there first, and when he looked inside the tomb all he saw were the pieces of cloth they had wrapped around Jesus’ body. When the others got there, they went inside and saw the tomb was empty. They believed that Jesus had come back and went back home to figure out what to do next. But Mary stayed in the garden and was crying because she hadn’t looked inside yet. Finally, she peeked inside and saw two angels sitting on the stone where Jesus' body had been. I’ll bet she was surprised, don’t you? (Let them respond.) One of the angels said, “Woman, why are you crying?” Mary said she was sad because someone had taken Jesus' body, and she didn’t know where it was.
Then she turned around and saw a gardener standing there, so she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
The man said, “Mary.”
She recognized his voice. The man wasn’t a gardener at all. Do you know who he was? (Let them respond.) Mary shouted, “Teacher!” because she recognized that he was Jesus. And he was alive! They talked for a few minutes and then Mary ran back to tell the other friends what she had seen.
Now how do you think they felt? (Let them respond.) When they got up this morning, they felt sad and afraid because they believed everything was over. But now I’ll bet they felt a lot better, don’t you?(Let them respond.) They thought everything was over, but God surprised them. And sometimes, God surprises us, too!
Sometimes we get sad or scared and cry a bit because of things that happen to us, don’t we? (Let them respond.) And sometimes we see people who are really sad or scared and are crying a bit because of things that have happened to them, don’t we?(Let them respond.)
It is perfectly fine to cry when we feel sad or scared, but I hope our story will help us remember that those sad and scary times don’t mean that everything is over. Sometimes, God says, “Why are you crying!”, and shows us that instead of everything being over, something new has just begun.
I hope we can remember that God did not create us to cry and worry, but God created us to take care of each other. Let’s pray and ask God to remind us that Jesus loves every one of us and wants us to follow him and take care of each other the way God takes care of us.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us and for forgiving us when we forget that. And please help us remember that you love all of the people you have created and help us let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.
